Search For Inmate, Truck In Huron

January 8, 2013, 11:04 AM
Updated: January 8, 2013, 12:44 PM

Charles Leroy Beeney

HURON, SD -

A missing truck in Huron could be connected to an inmate escape from the Beadle County Correctional Center.

Authorities say the owner noticed a white and turquoise 1991 Ford F250 pickup was missing after 8 a.m. on Tuesday. It has a South Dakota license plate of 4CD 178 and was taken from a home east of Huron along Highway 14. The owner noticed it was missing after a reverse 911 call warning people about the escape.

Inmate Charles Leroy Beeney escaped from the Huron Jail at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday after holding a correctional officer hostage. Beeney said he had a gun and demanded to be let go. While law enforcement did find clothes and shoes he was wearing, they haven't seen him since. They also didn't find a gun, so they aren't sure if he was really armed during the escape.

The escape has prompted a countywide lockdown of schools in Beadle County. In Huron, police monitored bus routes as students were picked up for classes Tuesday morning. All perimeter doors at every building in the Huron School District are locked and you must show ID in some cases to get inside. In addition, they are keeping kids indoors, which means no recess and students aren't changing buildings for classes. If Beeney hasn't been found by the time school gets out, police plan to monitor bus routes again.

The Beadle County Sheriff's Department is asking people in the Huron area to lock their doors and keep an eye out for Beeney. The 45-year-old white man is 5'11" tall and weights 160 pounds. He has blue eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.

Beeney was arrested for aggravated eluding following a chase near Alpena in December.